SMALLS GETS WRAPPED UP IN RUBBER: SPOILERS!!!!

I love Rubber. I know there are people out there who definitely would not enjoy this film, but let's face it...a film about a sentient tire with psycho-kinetic abilities that goes around exploding people's heads isn't exactly a film that's aimed to please large crowds...luckily I'm part of it's target audience, and I've come here to explain the film to those who just won't be able to understand why it's so brilliant. I'm not knockin you if you can't understand the film, if you can't it's really not your fault. The beauty of Rubber is that if you get it, then you're meant to get it and if you don't, then you never were supposed to in the first place...you dig?...I'm confusing you, aren't I?

Rubber starts out with a fantastic opening monologue about the importance of "No Sense" in films and in life. Not only does this speech explain and warn us what we are about to watch, but it also introduces what is arguably the best character in the film, Sherriff Chet (Stephen Spinella). Chet acts as a guide of sorts on our journey, acting as a character inside the film and also as an actor in real life. Most of the memorable scenes in Rubber feature Chet, and he is a fascinating man to watch. The film also has some other actors in it (the only other notable ones being Jack Plotnick as the dweebish and nasty Accountant, and Roxanne Mesquida as the super hot Sheila), but the main billing here really goes to Chet and Robert The Killer Tire.

Rubber presents itself as an homage to "No Sense", but in reality it is actually a fairly deep commentary on the art of film itself. From the first scene, in which a random group of people (dubbed "The Audience") are plopped down in the middle of a desert and given binoculars through which they will watch the proceedings, you know you are in for something really special and different. One of the things Rubber does is analyze the audience's reactions to the proceedings and their tendency to over-analyze certain aspects of the film. The film makes a strong statement about the audience when it kills all but one picky critic off (who then becomes the catalyst for the rest of the film) by feeding them a poisoned turkey. What exactly that means I'm not sure, but either way it can't be good for us.

One of my favorite things in Rubber is it's comment on when a film begins to run a bit too long. Rubber itself does run a bit too long, and the film acknowledges this by having Chet, after a failed attempt at stopping Robert, burst into Robert's house and point blank shoot him. Chet's actions are not done because he is heroic, they are done because Chet is tired of the film running on for so long and just wants the damned thing to end (The kicker??? Robert is quickly reincarnated as a tricycle shortly after Chet storms out of the picture). These are just two examples of some of the commentary you will find in this extraordinary film.

Rubber is a twisted, warped, absurd, and hysterical commentary on film. Not much really happens in Rubber, but the film is brilliant nontheless. It's bound to turn some people off, but the film seems unfazed by this because it was never targeted at a large audience to begin with. Rubber is a unique, different film that was created by film fans for film fans, so chances are if you are a film fan that you will more likely than not enjoy this weird little flick...however, if you do not fall into this category why don't you slip in that coveted DVD of Shark Night and leave this one to us big boys.

5/5 Stars